High-quality sunglasses enhance certain wavelengths of light and block other wavelengths. A number of U.S. patents attempt to achieve improved sunglasses and/or enhanced perception of color in various ways, including the following U.S. patents.
Each of the patents and patent application publications referred to in this specification and its accompanying Figures is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,436 to Marks et al. issued Jan. 24, 1967 with the title “CASTING COMPOSITION FOR LIGHT POLARIZING FILM”. U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,436 describes casting compositions initially forming an amorphous polymer-complex which are transformable upon extension into a continuous crystalline film capable of strongly polarizing transmitted light.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,894 to Araujo, et al. issued on Oct. 29, 1985 with the title “Ultraviolet absorbing photochromic glass of low silver content”. U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,894 describes a method of producing a photochromic glass having a reduced transmittance for ultraviolet radiation while having substantially unimpaired photochromic properties. The method comprises providing a combination of 0.1-1.0% CeO2 and 0.1-1.5% Sb2O3 and/or As2O3 as part of the glass composition. In an embodiment utilizing minimal silver content, the glass article in thicknesses of 1.3 to 2.0 mm can be chemically strengthened to surpass the impact specification imposed by the Federal Food and Drug Administration for eyewear, will transmit less than 0.2% of radiation having wavelengths between 290 nm-315 nm, and will demonstrate a darkened luminous transmittance at 20°-25° C. below 35% and a fading rate such that after five minutes the luminous transmittance will be at least 1.75 times that of the darkened transmittance.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,976 to Havens, et al. issued Dec. 25, 1990 with the title “Making colored photochromic glasses”. U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,976 describes a method for making tinted photochromic glass articles having an integral reduced surface layer exhibiting color, the glass utilizing silver halide crystals as the photochromic agent. The method generally comprises heat treating the glass article in a heating chamber in an atmosphere of flowing hydrogen at temperatures below 500° C. The specific steps of the inventive method comprise: (a) initially flowing hydrogen gas into said heat treating chamber at a sufficiently rapid rate to essentially instantaneously fill said chamber with the gas; (b) immediately thereafter decreasing the flow of said the hydrogen gas to permit careful control of the rate at which reduction takes place in the glass surface; and (c) continuing that gas flow for a sufficient length of time to produce an integral reduced surface layer on both front and back surfaces of the article having a combined depth effective to exhibit a color, but not of such individual depth as to prevent the passage of ultraviolet radiation through the front surface of the article.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,781 issued Jul. 8, 1997 to Robert L. Johnson, Jr. with the title “Optical filters for forming enhanced images”. U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,781 describes an optical filter for providing an enhanced image. The filter may comprise at least one substrate, layers of a low refractive index material and layers of a high refractive index material. The layers are stacked so that the filter blocks passbands at 490 nm and 590 nm as well as other image-confusing radiation. Light which is transmitted by the filter provides an enhanced image for viewing by the human eye as well as nonhuman detectors.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,811 to Kausch, et al. issued on Sep. 5, 2000 with the title “Dichroic polarizing film and optical polarizer containing the film”. U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,811 describes a dichroic polarizing film made, for example, by first combining polyvinyl alcohol and a second polymer, such as, polyvinyl pyrrolidone or a sulfonated polyester, in a solvent. The ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to second polymer is between about 5:1 to 100:1 by weight. The film is coated on a substrate, dried, and then stretched to orient at least a portion of the film. The film incorporates a dichroic dye material, such as iodine, to form a dichroic polarizer. This polarizer may be used in conjunction with a multilayer optical film, such as a reflective polarizer, to form an optical polarizer. The multilayer optical film may contain two or more sets of polyester films, where at least one of the sets is birefringent and orientable by stretching. The polyvinyl alcohol/second polymer film and the multilayer optical film may be simultaneously stretched to orient both polymer films.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,984 to Farwig issued Nov. 14, 2000 with the title “Color-enhancing polarized lens”. U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,984 describes a color-enhancing polarized lens is constructed having substantially trichroic spectral-transmission. A lens so constructed may have an overall transmitted tint which is a virtually colorless gray to the eye. A lens so constructed and tint-neutralized delivers unexpectedly dramatic improvements in the areas of color saturation, chromatic and luminous contrast, clarity of detail, depth perception, haze penetration, and overall impact.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,680 issued to Larson (the inventor of the present invention) on Jan. 1, 2002 with the title “Polarized lens with oxide additive”. U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,680 describes lens for reducing glare and improving color discrimination includes a lens wafer containing a rare-earth oxide such as neodymium that provides relatively high light transmittancy at 450 nm, 540 nm, and 610 nm, and relatively low light transmittancy at 500 nm and at 580 nm. A polarized filter is included to reduce glare, and an anti-reflective layer minimizes ghost images, haze, and loss of contrast.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,824 to Larson (the inventor of the present invention) issued Aug. 12, 2003 with the title “Polarized lens with oxide additive”. U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,824 describes a lens for reducing glare and improving color discrimination includes a lens wafer containing a rare earth oxide such as neodymium that provides progressively higher transmittance at 540 nm than at 500 nm and at 450 nm, and average transmittance at 540 nm and 610 nm that is greater than the transmittance at 580 nm. An ultra-violet absorber, a polarized filter and anti-reflective layer may be included to reduce UV light, glare and improve contrast and vision.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,816 to Tsutsumi issued Aug. 10, 2004 with the title “Driving glasses”. U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,816 describes driving glasses in which a thermic ray reflection layer made of a metal or an organic substance is provided on the outer surface of a glass matrix, and an anti-reflection layer 3 is provided on the inner surface thereof, wherein the glass matrix contains neodymium oxide Nd2O3 through 12% by weight and praseodymium oxide Pr6O11 of 0.5 through 8% by weight, and forms an absorption peak of light transmittance at a wavelength of 510 nm through 540 nm and a wavelength of 570 nm through 590 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,029,118 to Ishak issued on Apr. 18, 2006 with the title “Waterman's sunglass lens”. U.S. Pat. No. 7,029,118 describes an improved ten-layer performance polarized lens for sunglasses. The lens design maximizes visual acuity while minimizing blue-light transmission using a multi-layer dielectric mirror to reduces glare and overall light transmission, two layers of high-contrast blue-blocking amber CR-39 plastic or polycarbonate, sandwiching a polarizing layer. An outer hydrophobic overcoat is also provided to protect against haze, delamination, and smudging. The foregoing layers are arranged to provide a balanced light transmission profile optimum for use on the water in which 100% of UV-A & B light is absorbed to at least 400 nm. The resulting dielectric-mirrored sunglass lens reduces both overall light transmission and ocular photochemical damage.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,599 to Kumar, et al. issued May 16, 2006 with the title “Polarizing devices and methods of making the same”. U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,599 describes ophthalmic elements and devices comprising an at least partial coating adapted to polarize at least transmitted radiation on at least a portion of at least one exterior surface of an ophthalmic element or substrate. Further, according to certain non-limiting embodiments, the at least partial coating adapted to polarize at least transmitted radiation comprises at least one at least partially aligned dichroic material. Other non-limiting embodiments of the disclosure provide methods of making ophthalmic elements and devices comprising forming an at least partial coating adapted to polarize at least transmitted radiation on at least a portion of at least one exterior surface of the ophthalmic element or substrate. Optical elements and devices and method of making the same are also disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,372,640 to Fung issued May 13, 2008 with the title “Enhanced color contrast”. U.S. Pat. No. 7,372,640 describes a color contrast enhancing lens made from adhering two different lenses and a membrane together. It includes a color enhancing lens whose specific component will selectively absorb the yellow light in the visible spectrum, which enhances the user vision by enhancing the distinction between red and green. It also includes an ultraviolet blocking lens whose special compounds will absorb the majority of violet light and a part of blue light. It also includes a light polarization membrane whose special structure can reduce strong light. It can also absorb the majority of violet light and keep a low transmission rate of blue light, thus reduced the retina injury caused by overexposure to blue light. It can also block the invisible ultraviolet and reduce strong light. So while the users' eyes are protected, they can also enjoy their view.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,506,977 to Aiiso issued Mar. 24, 2009 with the title “Plastic spectacles lens”. U.S. Pat. No. 7,506,977 describes plastic spectacles lens containing an organic dye instead of a neodymium compound and having an optical transmission equivalent to a plastic spectacles lens containing a neodymium compound is provided. The plastic spectacles lens comprises a plastic lens wafer formed from a thermosetting or thermoplastic resin, or the plastic lens wafer and one, or two or more component layers formed on at least one side of the plastic lens wafer, and an organic dye satisfying the specific conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,597,441 to Farwig issued on Oct. 6, 2009 with the title “Polarized contrast enhancing sunglass lens”. U.S. Pat. No. 7,597,441 describes a polarized sunglass lens that utilizes a multiband contrast enhancer comprised of three rare-earth oxides to provide relatively high peak transmittance in portions of the red and green spectrum, relatively lower transmittance for the blue spectrum, and very low transmittance for the UV spectrum. The lens provides enhanced perception of colors, heightened contrast, and improved visual acuity. The inclusion of vanadium pentoxide in the lens provides attenuation of the UV spectrum, thus protecting the user's eyes and the internal layers and colorants from UV-induced damage. The front lens element can be either the multiband contrast enhancer or a photochromic lens element.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,210,678 to Farwig issued Jul. 3, 2012 with the title “Multiband contrast-enhancing light filter and polarized sunglass lens comprising same”. U.S. Pat. No. 8,210,678 describes a polarized sunglass lens that comprises a multiband contrast enhancer to provide relatively high light transmittance for portions of the red, green, and blue spectra, while blocking UV and visible violet wavelengths, and optionally blocking deep-red wavelengths, in a single lens layer which when positioned as the front lens layer also protects the internal lens layers from UV-induced degradation. The multiband contrast enhancer comprises a combination of a copper halide or copper indium compound with rare-earth oxides in a heat-treated glass composition, or a combination of narrowband and sharp-cut absorbing dyes in a plastic composition, and provides attenuation of the UV and violet spectrum, thus protecting the user's eyes and the internal layers and colorants from UV-induced damage while providing enhanced optical contrast, color saturation, and visual acuity for the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,733,929 to Chiou et al. (hereinafter, “Chiou et al.”) titled “Color contrast enhancing sunglass lens”, issued May 27, 2014. Chiou et al. describe a color contrast enhancing sunglass lens that includes a lens body and a multi-layer coating disposed on the lens body. The multi-layer coating includes a set of alternating layers formed of materials having different refractive indices and confines the transmission of visible light to a predetermined spectral profile having at least three high transmission bands that include blue, green and red bands and that have a maximum of spectral transmittance no less than 60%, three low transmission bands that include purple, cyan and yellow bands and that have a minimum of spectral transmittance no greater than 40%, and no spectral transmittance being less than 15% between 475 nm and 650 nm. The thicknesses of the layers in the multiple-layer lens coatings determine which wavelengths are reflected and which wavelengths are passed. The color contrast enhancing sunglass lens as disclosed meets the ANSI specification Z80.3-2009 section 4.6.3.3.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,770,749 to McCabe, et al. issued Jul. 8, 2014 with the title “Eyewear with chroma enhancement”. U.S. Pat. No. 8,770,749 describes a lens including a lens body and an optical filter configured to attenuate visible light in a plurality of spectral bands. Each of the plurality of spectral bands can include an absorptance peak with a spectral bandwidth, a maximum absorptance, and an integrated absorptance peak area within the spectral bandwidth. An attenuation factor obtained by dividing the integrated absorptance peak area within the spectral bandwidth by the spectral bandwidth of the absorptance peak can be greater than or equal to about 0.8 for the absorptance peak in each of the plurality of spectral bands.
German patent application number DE 102005052812 A1 by Asmus was published Dec. 28, 2006 with the title “Getönte UV-Haftfolie für optische Brillengläser” (roughly, “Tinted UV-adhesive-film for optical lenses”). This application describes a self-adhesive tinted UV-blocking tinted film that provides UV-protection against glaring light, e.g., of sun and snow, in the anti-glaring category 3, that is, having 8- to 18-percent transmission. The film is made up of PVC (polyvinylchloride) of thickness 0.1 mm coated with an adhesive.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,641 to Murphy issued Aug. 15, 1972 with the title “LAMINATED PRODUCT BONDED WITH COLORED ADHESIVE”. U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,641 describes multi-ply creped tissue paper containing printing between the plies of tissue to create a pattern of muted and aesthetically pleasing coloration visible on the exterior surface of the plies and the method of making the product which involves the use of water-based adhesives as the printing media. Such a product is unsuited for making ophthalmic spectacle lenses.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,746,879 to Jiang et al issued Jun. 10, 2014 with the title “Adhesive system for a laminated lens and method for applying same”. U.S. Pat. No. 8,746,879 describes a method for laminating a functional film on to an optical base element and a tri-layer adhesive system for use in the method. The tri-layer adhesive includes a first latex adhesive layer disposed on the functional film and a second latex adhesive layer disposed on the optical base element. A hot-melt adhesive (HMA) layer is disposed in between the latex layers to form a tri-layer adhesive to permanently retain the functionalized film on the optical base element. The method includes first coating a latex adhesive on the functional film and second coating a latex adhesive on the optical base element. An HMA is then coated on to one of the dried latex adhesive layers. The film is hot pressed on to the optical base element with the HMA sandwiched in between the latex layers to form a laminated optical device.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,916,233 to Mosse et al. issued Dec. 23, 2014, with the title “Methods for coating lenses curved surfaces with a polarizing liquid”. U.S. Pat. No. 8,916,233 describes methods and apparatus for coating at least a portion of a curved surface of a lens with a polarizing liquid. For example, there is provided a method of providing a lens having a curved surface, and applying a polarizing liquid to at least a portion of the curved surface by shear flow with a flexible apparatus. Apparatus include ophthalmic lenses having polarized coatings formed according to the disclosed methods.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,467 to Bailey issued Aug. 11, 1998 with the title “Semi-permanent reading lenses for sunglasses”. U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,467 describes a plastic reading lens using a microstructure to provide reading correction can be semi-permanently attached to a non-prescription sunglass using a water-soluble adhesive. The lens may be removed from the sunglass using an adhesive remover which is non-damaging to plastic or glass. The microstructure lens may also be applied to the sunglasses using a non-adhesive molecular attraction mechanism.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0233105 of Schmeder et al. published Aug. 21, 2014 with the title “Multi-band color vision filters and method by LP-optimization”. Patent Application Publication 2014/0233105 describes optical filters that provide regulation and/or enhancement of chromatic and luminous aspects of the color appearance of light to human vision, generally to applications of such optical filters, to therapeutic applications of such optical filters, to industrial and safety applications of such optical filters when incorporated, for example, in radiation-protective eyewear, to methods of designing such optical filters, to methods of manufacturing such optical filters, and to designs and methods of incorporating such optical filters into apparatus including, for example, eyewear and illuminants.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved ophthalmic spectacle lenses.